October 15, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Dancers from Oregon Ballet Theatre join the Oregon Symphony to illuminate the 19 th century controversy that surrounded the world’s first “dirty dance,” the waltz, as Music Director Carlos Kalmar leads the Symphony in a Front Row Center concert titled “Tales from the Vienna Ballroom” on Friday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. American Airlines is the airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Front Row Center Series. Media support is provided by Willamette Week. The concert reflects a new spirit of collaboration emerging among Oregon’s largest performing arts organizations; Kalmar teamed with OBT Artistic Director, Christopher Stowell, to plan the program.
This season’s three Front Row Center concerts each focus on a different city in Europe that was a center of important musical innovation. For the opening concert, Kalmar brings his Austrian style and insight to the music of Vienna and the work of the Strauss family: father Johann Strauss Senior and his three sons Johann II, known as “The Waltz King,” Josef and Eduard. Together this illustrious family helped create the world’s first dance craze with their many waltzes, some of which, like “The Beautiful Blue Danube,” have become emblematic of that dance form. The waltz also sparked a storm of controversy for its lewd and lascivious posture that required men and women to embrace on the dance floor.
Kalmar and the Symphony will perform “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” “Furioso Polka,” “Künsler Quadrille,” “Accelerations Waltzes” and the “Egyptian March” by Johann Strauss II, as well as a collaboration he wrote with his brother Josef, the “Pizzicato Polka.” Music of Johann Strauss Senior will include his famous “Radetsky March” and the “Loreley-Rhein Klaenge Waltzer.” Josef Strauss, considered by Johann II to be the better composer, will be represented by his “Dorfschwalben aus Oestrreich Waltz” and “Plappermaeulchen Polka Schnell.” The concert will also feature music of Mozart and Joseph Lanner.
Throughout the evening, OBT dancers will accompany the music with demonstrations of the graceful and controversial waltz and the lively bouncy polka, choreographed by OBT Artistic Director Christopher Stowell. The concert will be narrated by Susan Franklin.
The Front Row Center series is designed to introduce new audiences to symphonic music, utilizing dramatic elements to make the story and the music come alive.
This performance is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $15 to $53 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Christopher Stowell is Oregon Ballet Theatre’s second artistic director. During his 2003-2004 debut season, he made significant additions to the OBT repertoire, bringing for the first time to Portland some of the world’s most cherished ballets, among them George Balanchine’s original 1954 “Nutcracker.” In addition, he commissioned works by three internationally prominent young choreographers and created the critically acclaimed “ Adin,” his first ballet for OBT’s dancers.
Born in New York and raised in Germany and Seattle, Stowell was trained at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet. In 1985 he joined San Francisco Ballet where he danced for sixteen years, appearing in theatres throughout the world including the Paris Opera, New York’s Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. As a principal dancer, his repertoire included leading roles in the full-length ballets “Romeo and Juliet,” “ Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Othello,” as well as in many of the ballets of George Balanchine. In addition, he performed in works by such noted choreographers as Paul Taylor, Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian and Frederick Ashton and had roles created for him by William Forsythe, Mark Morris, Helgi Tomasson and James Kudelka.
In recent years, Stowell has taught and coached in San Francisco, New York, Japan and Europe. He has created new works for San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Diablo Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute. He has also staged the works of George Balanchine and Mark Morris.
Born in England, Susan Franklin was a clinical psychologist in Portland for 20 years before retiring in order to pursue a degree in music, specializing in piano performance. She now volunteers with the Oregon Symphony, serving as assistant to Music Director Carlos Kalmar.
Susan is a long time devotee of the arts. Growing up she studied piano and violin, singing, acting and ballet. She has appeared in many amateur theatric productions, has been a member of several community choruses and continues to study and play the piano, both solo and ensemble.
Susan is no stranger to public speaking. She has lectured at universities, presented at conferences for business and professional audiences and appeared as a guest on TV programs. Her most recent appearance was as narrator for a production of Peter and the Wolf.
